Neptune return from space with a new lineup, album, and tour. Next time, maybe they’ll bring you a personalized keychain.

I remember studying the solar system in elementary school, circa third or fourth grade, maybe. I remember the project — the one where we each chose a planet and researched the hell out of it, then painted a few Styrofoam balls and stuck them in a shadow box. Something along those lines. Of course, for the sake of fairness (I suppose), we couldn’t choose our own planets. We had to draw slips of paper from a bowl. I drew Mars. Fuck Mars. It’s just close to Earth and was maybe at one point inhabitable. Lame.

Neptune’s rad, though. Homemade instruments, drum feedback, interrupted radio broadcasts and the like. I’m talking about the band, not the planet, in case you didn’t catch that abrupt subject switcheroo — but you never know, maybe they play electric collage songs out in space too. Since 1994, Neptune have worked with a variety of lineups — the latest includes Jason Sanford, Mark Pearson, and Kevin Micka — and experimented with discarded materials and found noises to create a surreal sound, perhaps fast-forwarding to the year 2845. On March 13, they’ll release their 10th LP titled msg rcvd via Northern Spy Records. Just a regular release, nothing beamed down from space. They’re touring too, but it looks like they’ll be skipping extraterrestrial venues. Just zooming through Europe. Bummer.

Shabazz Palaces, the world’s greatest hip-hop group? Probably not, but maybe! Black Up was pretty much the best, so there’s that piece of evidence. Besides, Shabazz Palaces say they’re the best themselves! I mean, I haven’t asked them, but, you know, I bet they would, I guess? I’m really the only one pushing hard for this “Shabazz Palaces, the greatest hip-hop group” thing. Those guys probably don’t really care one way or the other. They’re too cool for that nonsense.

While they don’t care about all that, they are going on tour over the next few months. Some of these dates will be in Europe, while some will be in… not Europe! Specifically, the United States. Does anybody in Europe think Shabazz Palaces aren’t the best? They’ll be proven wrong. What about the naysayers in the United States? Also proven wrong! As for me, I’ll be proven right. All will be justified. But mainly just that one thing.

SCREAMING FEMALES’ FIFTH LP IS CALLED UGLY AND IT’S COMING OUT ON APRIL 4 AND THEY’RE RELEASING THE FIRST SINGLE ON FEBRUARY 11 AT THE DON GIOVANNI RECORDS SHOWCASE IN BROOKLYN WHICH WILL KICK OFF A WEEK-LONG TOUR OF FREE SHOWS AT RECORD SHOPS AND ONE BOOK STORE!!!!!!!

Alright, enough with the caps — they’re obnoxious. The “It All Means Nothing” 7-inch on Don Giovanni Records will also include a version of “A New Kid” recorded live at WFMU, and you’ll only be able to snag it during this run of shows.

Hey readers! So, like I mentioned to you yesterday, J. Spaceman’s latest Spiritualized album, Sweet Heart Sweet Light, is coming out in April via Fat Possum. Like pretty much all Spiritualized endeavors, the thing took… a while. According to his press peeps, J. spent two years in Wales, L.A., and Reykjavik recording his usual be-all-end-all gesamtkunstwerk, then spent another year after that mixing it (over and over and over again, presumably) at home in his trademark sunglasses and footie pajamas. It certainly has taken dudes longer to make records that are presumably much bigger turds than this one is going to be, but I mean, still… that’s kind of a while.

But then, all this foot-dragging got me to thinking: is everything a person does just automatically taken for granted as being amazing when it takes you nine times longer than its supposed to to do things??? I think I could be on to something here, don’t you? So, with that in mind, I’m going try an experiment. I’m going to literally spend the next TWO MONTHS typing out the spring Spiritualized tourdates that coincide with this record’s release. Seriously. I’ll type a date out; go to Starbucks for a bit; come home and take the dog out; maybe write the name of the city and venue before bed; wake up the next day and delete the whole thing in a fit of artistic frustration; and repeat. By the time I’m done, you should be looking the most EPIC list of North American dates you’ve ever seen in your entire fucking life. But I’ll let you be the judge. See you guys in seven or eight weeks!

Spotify best watch its back! It was announced last week that US-based music service Rhapsody has purchased the international wing of your former favorite dorm room time waster: Napster. The purchase, at an undisclosed sum, effectively injects Rhapsody into the UK and German markets without the hassle of having to introduce themselves to their new neighborhood. Rhapsody previously purchased Napster’s US assets and boasts of being the largest subscription-based music service in the US with over 1 million users. Spotify claimed back in November that it had 2.5 million users internationally, but they’re currently not in the German market.

While it’s unknown what Napster International’s current subscriber base is, Napster is a well-known name in Europe and Rhapsody’s decision to remain under the Napster moniker in the UK and Germany should help them successfully expand into the European market.

Why would a Spotify-loving European want to switch over to Napster? Well, with the power of Rhapsody behind them, Napster subscribers will soon be taking advantage of improved mobile apps and web interfaces, better sound quality, and an expanded library of music. Existing Napster users will also be able to retain their existing libraries even after the infrastructure shift is complete. With the help of Rhapsody, Napster will be an on-par service with Spotify, and could prove to offer better mobile capabilities, as many users claim that Spotify’s existing mobile app is seriously lacking in terms of usability.

Napster’s existing foothold in Germany will also be beneficial to Rhapsody, who don’t currently face direct competition from Spotify in that market (though a roll out of the service in the German market is on the horizon). Regardless of whether Napster blows up or not following the transition to being a Rhapsody-based service, direct competition is always a good thing for users. Bring it!

PUT YOUR ROBES ON! PUT YOUR ROBES ON! The Polyphonic Spree are coming!!!!!!! They’ve brought all 21 band and choir members with them to relive the days when their gowns were made out of that cheap stuff from Jo-Ann Fabrics, not that shiny new shit they’ve been spotted in as recently as 2007. That’s right! They’re bringing all their Spreeks for a round of intimate shows.

This tour comes shortly after head Polyphons Tim DeLaughter and Julie Doyle relaunched their label, Good Records Recordings. It will serve as a singles label to artists like Preteen Zenith, Tripping Daisy, and newer acts Binary Sunrise, Sweet Lee Morrow, and New Fumes (The Spree and Flaming Lips tour member, Daniel Huffman).